


Inked

by hybryd0



Category: Glee
Genre: Gen, pre-kublam, preslash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-25
Updated: 2013-04-25
Packaged: 2017-12-09 10:53:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,084
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/773387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hybryd0/pseuds/hybryd0
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sam will tattoo just about anything on anyone, but sometimes he has to draw the line—even when it comes to his celebrity crush.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Inked

**Author's Note:**

> Just a little ficlet and sneak peak at a new verse I'm hopefully going to be writing my Camp NaNoWriMo story in. Future story is Kublam, this story is a prequel. Sam is a tattoo artist, Blaine is the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of a metal band named Nightbird Rising, and Kurt is the sous chef at an upscale restaurant.

Sam was sitting at his station sketching out the design for a new client when the bells above the front door dinged. He didn’t bother to look up because those bells dinged about a thousand times a day and he had a deadline to get the design done. His reputation had started to grow after word got out that he’d been the one to do Blaine Anderson’s chest piece and clients had started to show up asking for him instead of one of the more seasoned vets.

“Yo Evans, get your ass up here!”

Sam rolled his eyes as he put his pencil down. Of course Puck couldn’t come and get him like a normal person, no, he had to bellow across the whole shop. It was a good thing Puck’s crew were used to him and didn’t flinch at his outbursts.

Making his way to the front of the shop, Sam’s face broke into a smile as he saw who was waiting up there for him. It was none other than Blaine Anderson himself. Blaine was talking with Puck and had yet to notice Sam, which gave him the chance to eye up the other man. The truth was that Sam had been harboring a crush since long before Blaine ever walked into the shop looking to get tattooed. And how could he not? Blaine was a beautiful man with gorgeously tan skin covered in colorful and detailed tattoos, breathtaking eyes, and the snakebites made his smile all the more perfect. Sam had it bad.

“You couldn’t be more obvious, bro,” Jake, Puck’s half brother, said as he walked by.

Sam jabbed him in the arm and Jake walked away laughing, but the commotion was enough to grab Puck and Blaine’s attention. Sam tried to hide the spring in his step and not look like the eager puppy he was, but he could see the amusement in Puck’s face and knew he probably failed horribly.

“Hey dude, what’s up?” Sam greeted. He offered his hand to shake out of courtesy and almost squeaked in surprise when Blaine pulled him into a bro hug complete with a slap to the back.

“Not much man, just thought I’d come back to the best tattooist I know for some more ink,” Blaine said back.

“Oh so you came for me then,” Puck said and they all shared a laugh, but Sam knew that Puck was half serious about it.

Sam motioned Blaine to follow him, talking all the while. “So do you already have an idea of what you want?”

Blaine slid into the seat at Sam’s station while Sam went and grabbed his sketchpad. When Sam came back his stopped in mid-step as he saw Blaine already had his shirt off. He shook himself out of it really quick, thankful that Blaine had been looking at his back in the mirror, and plopped onto his stool.

“Yeah dude, I want to get my boyfriend’s name on my back,” Blaine said.

Sam stared at him. He knew there was no way he was hiding his look of complete disbelief. “You’ve got to be shittng me.”

The smile dropped off of Blaine’s face instantly. “Excuse me?”

“I don’t think I stuttered,” Sam shot back. “Getting your boyfriend’s name tattooed on you is not only the lamest idea ever, but it’s a horrible idea too. Do you have any idea how many people that decision?”

“I don’t give a flying fuck about other people,” Blaine spat back. “I’m the fucking client and what I say goes.”

“Every artist has something they refuse to do and I refuse to do those dumbass significant other tattoos,” Sam said, crossing his arms.

Blaine stood up and Sam could see his skin flushed from anger all the down his neck to his collarbones and tried not to think about how hot that was. “You just made the biggest mistake of your career. I’ll make sure everyone knows what a piece of shit artist you are, you’ll never get another big name client again.”

Sam was usually pretty good about his temper; he had done a lot to improve on it after barely avoiding an assault charge. But there were still some things that triggered it and being threatened was definitely one of them. Sam shot to his feet, muscles rippling as he squared off with Blaine. Blaine maybe have been shorter, but Sam knew the other man wouldn’t back down from a fight.

“Hey! What the hell is going on over here?” Puck demanded as he stalked over.

“This asshole won’t give me the tattoo I want,” Blaine said.

Sam crossed his arms again. “He wants his damn boyfriend’s name, Puck.”

Sam sighed as Puck asked Blaine to give them a minute and then dragged Sam to the back room. He prepared to get reamed. Puck was his friend, but also his boss and Puck was a hard ass when it came to the job.

“What the fuck are you doing, Sam? You can’t just refuse to tattoo a high roller like that,” Puck said. “He could ruin not only your rep, but the shop’s rep too.”

“Doing a tattoo like that could ruin my rep, dude,” Sam replied.

“I don’t give a shit. Go out there and design the best dumbass boyfriend name tattoo you can and give it to him. Or you can find yourself a new job, Evans, because you’re not bringing all my hard fucking work down with you.”

With that Puck shouldered passed Sam and left the room. Sam growled and kicked the wall before storming out. He went back to where Blaine was still standing and looking as pissed off as before. Sam was too pissed off to focus on how hot Blaine looked all worked up like he was and simply sat down on his stool and snatched up his sketchpad.

“What’s your boyfriend’s name?” Sam asked through gritted teeth.

“Ace” Blaine spat. Sam watched as he then seemed to take a deep, calming breath and sat down in the chair again.

“Ace?” Sam repeated incredulously. He turned his attention to his sketchpad and worked up a quick design, keeping in mind the future need for a cover up. The last thing he wanted to do was put a significant other tattoo on one of his favorite musicians, but if he was going to do it he was going to make sure that Blaine could take back his horrible mistake when it inevitably blew up in his face.

Significant other tattoos always did.

When Sam was finished he showed Blaine the design. Sam was afraid that Blaine would recognize the design’s potential cover up idea. When he didn’t, Sam got the design put onto the transfer paper and had Blaine move to sit backwards on his chair. They talked long enough to establish where Blaine wanted it and then Sam got to work.

Unlike the first time Sam tattooed Blaine they didn’t talk at all the whole time. The time seemed to drag on in the silence and Sam couldn’t even enjoy the fact that he was getting to touch Blaine’s perfect, smooth skin. Even though he hated that he was putting a name on Blaine’s skin he still put forth his best work.

When he was done he quickly went through the steps of taking care of it even though Blaine had almost as many tattoos as Sam did and knew what he was doing. Blaine didn’t say goodbye or anything when they were finished. He left Sam’s station, went to the front desk to pay, and then left.

Sighing, Sam cleaned up his station. He was sure he would never see Blaine in person ever again.

~*~*~*~

Two months later Sam was preparing for a mystery client that Puck had set up for him. Sam didn’t like the fact that Puck wouldn’t tell him any details about what he was going to be doing or what the client wanted. It was highly unusual for him not to be able to have a couple of sketches ready for a client meeting.

Sam was spinning circles on his stool, bored out of his mind, when the door dinged open and in walked Blaine. Sam sat up straight and watched carefully to see what was going on. Blaine hadn’t ruined his reputation like he’d threatened to, but Sam had still never expected to see him again. He was more than a little surprised when Puck waved Blaine toward him and he prepared himself for the worst.

Only, instead of more anger, Blaine met him with a sheepish smile and automatically Sam knew what was going on. It took everything in him not to say “I told you so”.

“So, it seems you were right about that tattoo and I owe you an apology,” Blaine said as soon as he stopped in front of Sam.

Sam crossed his arms and stared hard at Blaine. He didn’t care if Blaine Anderson was some big time rockstar; the man had insulted him and his work and he wasn’t going to be happy with anything less than an actual apology. He cocked an eyebrow at Blaine and waited.

“Alright dude, damn. I’m sorry I called you a piece of shit artist when that’s obviously not the truth,” Blaine said. He nibbled on one of his snakebites and Sam couldn’t help but fixate on that. “Even though you didn’t like the idea you still did a badass job on that tattoo and that says a lot about you, man. I don’t know if you can, but I’d love it if you were the one that did the coverup art.”

Sam stared hard at Blaine for a moment longer before breaking into a smile. “I actually had a coverup already in mind when I did that one. I have it drawn up and everything even though I was sure you’d never come see me for it.”

“You were really that sure, huh?” Blaine asked as he moved to mirror his position the last time he’d been there.

“It was nothing against your relationship or anything, dude, but people always regret getting those things,” Sam said as he got his gear ready. He grabbed the stencil he already had prepared and held it up for Blaine to see. “What do you think about this, man?”

Blaine looked up and Sam saw his eyes widen, an amazed look crossing his face. “Dude, that’s badass!”

The new design was a detailed black dragon that looked like it was clawing its way out of his skin. The “Ace” had been transformed into angry orange and yellow fire that the dragon was breathing. It would be a challenge to get it right, but Sam was confident in his ability to pull it off.

The process of doing the coverup was vastly different than doing the original tattoo had been. Blaine kept him engaged in a conversation the whole time. After some prompting from Sam he explained that Ace had been cheating on him while he was one tour, but that it had been Ace who had broken up with him. It was a shitty deal and Sam felt horrible for him.

It took longer for him to do the coverup because it was a bigger piece and a lot more detailed even than the chestpiece he’d done before that. He wanted it to be absolutely perfect; not only for Blaine, but for his reputation as well.

“Alright dude, I think we’re done,” Sam said finally, leaning back to inspect his work. He was his own worst critic, but he couldn’t find anything wrong with it. The lines were crisp, the colors vibrant, and the “Ace” was completely gone. He grabbed a mirror and handed it to Blaine, then turned the chair around so that he could use both mirrors to see the reflection.

Blaine’s mouth dropped open. “Ho-ly shit, Sam. You...that’s amazing! Look at the detail on that thing!”

“Glad you like it, dude, you deserve something badass to cover up that asshole,” Sam said. “The dragon’s fiery wrath incinerated Ace.”

Blaine laughed. “Seriously, dude, I love it. You’re my new favorite artists, man. I’m coming to your for all my tattoos and I’m letting everyone know that you’re the man for badass shit.”

Blaine bounced around the shop showing everyone his new piece. Sam puffed up with pride as veteran artists praised his work. For the first time he really felt like he belonged among them.


End file.
